After about an hour of walking, I came across a giant wooden fence with a break in it that coincided with the path. There were two guards standing watch on the side facing me. They looked really shiny standing there in full plate armor. As I approached they crossed their spears stopping my crossing. The one on the left asked me, “Who might you be?”. My vision blurred out and a popup notification came up.

Name yourself! Once you do this no changes can be made to your character. Are you sure you wish to proceed?

NAME:

_

That is an interesting question. I was essentially nameless, and I couldn’t start my adventures without one. I dug through the knowledge that I still had and tried to think of something that would be perfect for an Artificer. I decided a German name would sound strong. So I went with Otto for the first name after Otto Hahn the “father of nuclear chemistry” and the surname of Wagner, because it felt right. After accepting the prompt, I replied to the guard, “I am Otto Wagner, Artificer for hire.” as a performed my best bow. The guard on the right look confused and mouthed the word artificer to the left guard. The left guard ignored the reaction of right and extends his hand to me with a small box in it saying, “Select your gather and crafting skill before you open this box. It will hold the tools you will need to start your craft.”. He motioned behind him, “There are monsters beyond this point. It is recommended that you stay on the path until you get a weapon. The first town is about an hour away. Do you have any questions?”

I took the box and asked, “What different skills are there to choose?”. “There are your typical gathering skills: mining, herb gathering, and skinning. You also have the craft making skills: smithing, tailoring, leather crafting, jeweler, and alchemy.”, he explained. I thought for several minutes about this as the guards stared at me awkwardly. I asked them what they thought. The guards looked shocked that anyone would care for their opinions. The left one stammered, “I would recommend smithing or tailoring. You will be able to create weapons or armor for your class.”. The right one advised me to consider jeweler. I thought about it further and an idea popped into my head to check my skills.

I mentally commanded a menu to open and saw the following skills:

Skills:

Spells:

Design

Fire Dart

-unknown-

Restorative Pulse

I selected the design skill and found that I could craft things from here. There was only one recipe available and it looked like I needed mining materials to create it. But I needed to confirm one thing before I made my decision final, “How do I get copper bars?” The guard on the right answered, “Two ways, you can buy them from a smith, or get the smithing skill and make it yourself.” I didn’t like that Engineers were forced into skills but sighed as I chose mining and smithing. The box glowed briefly before I opened it. I found a pick, smelter, and all the other tools to craft minus an anvil. I thanked the guards and they moved aside for me to pass.

About fifteen minutes down the path, I saw something that caught my eye. I looked and saw a ghostly image of my mining pick over a boulder on the side of the path. I pulled out my pick and took a swing at the rock. It exploded on contact spraying gravel in every direction. When the dust cleared, there were three objects on the ground. Two of them were chunks of copper and the third was labeled as raw coal. I grabbed them and placed them into my inventory for later. I found another boulder twenty minutes later and received one more chunk of copper, raw coal, and weak nitrate powder. I grabbed all of the copper and pulled out my pocket smelter. It resembled a large centrifuge juicer built by someone with a steampunk fetish. A ghostly image of ore appeared at the top. I placed my 3 chunks of copper and the smelter started pulsing. After fifteen seconds a ding was heard and a copper bar expelled from the ramp at the bottom. This continued till I had fifteen bars and then the machine stopped moving. I picked it up and went to place it in my inventory when I heard a rattle from within. I shook it further and saw a small red stone fall out of the bottom. I picked it up a found a small flawed ruby. After placing everything in my inventory, I continued walking. The scenery changed to farmland with fields of corn and wheat all in rows. Cows and sheep could be heard in the distance. The path ended at a fork with an inn in the middle of it.

The sun was starting to set and I could feel the temperature drop. My curiosity got the best of me and I ventured to the rear of the inn. There I found a tanning bed and an anvil. I recalled the recipe I read previously and grabbed the copper, coal, and nitrate out of my inventory. I made copper sheets on the anvil, then created black powder from the coal and nitrate. Using both of those and some in-game magic I was left with a crude grenade. I stared at the stats of my new creation.

Crude Copper Grenade

Damage: 15 - 30 fire based damage

Playing with fire is bad for those who burn themselves. For the rest of us, it is a very great pleasure. -Jerry Smith

I made some more and equipped them in my inventory. After I was done, I stepped back out to the front of inn. I saw a man walking in place holding a fishing pole over his shoulder, apparently he was stuck behind a felled tree. He saw me, waved, shouted, “Afternoon, nice day for fishing!”, and continued walking in place. I opened my interface and sent a private message to Emi explaining the situation. After I sent the message a felt movement from my right side. I turned to see Emi standing there with a look of annoyance. “Someone has been messing with my code!”, she fumed. She approached the felled tree and reached over it touching the forehead of the NPC. His eyes rolled up into his head and he dropped his fishing pole on the ground. When Emi retracted her hand the man came to, reached down to grab his pole. His fishing pole turned into an ax and he started chopping up the tree into sections. Emi spoke in haste, “Thanks for telling me about this. I will need to look into this further to find out who changed my code. Once I do I will get back to you. In the meantime happy adventuring!”. And with a wave, she was gone in a pile of dust again. I was slightly confused with all that just occurred, when a shout brought me out of my own head, “Hail, Adventurer! Can you please help me move this wood to the back of the inn?”

Quest: Touch My Wood

Tasks: Help Dale the Fisherman move the felled tree

Rewards: 20 XP, 5 Copper, and reputation with the Jacking Ass Inn

Accept?

I accepted the quest and started moving the wood to the rear of the inn. Once completed Dale thanked me for my work and shook my hand. A new notification appeared.

Quest Completed: Touch My Wood

Rewards: 20 XP, 5 Copper, and reputation with the Jacking Ass Inn

You are now Level 2

You received a new spell!

Ether Armor

Adds 10 armor to the caster and restores 2hp every second. Lasts for 1 hour.

With a cheer in my step, I skipped into the inn. There was a fire in the middle of the floor with chairs and tables around it. A woman was seen on the other side of the pit to me cleaning a table. She turned to see me and smiled as she said, “Welcome to the Jacking Ass! What can we do for you, adventurer?” She watched me with brown eyes as I stepped closer to the fire. I smiled back at her and ask for Elsa. Her shoulders tensed at my question. “What would you need with me?”, she replied. I explained that Emi sent me and she immediately relaxed. “You must be Otto!”, she smiled again. “I was wondering when you were going to show up. This package has been sitting here for a week.” She walked to the back wall of the establishment behind a counter and bent down below it. She reappeared in a second placing a crate onto the counter. I opened the crate and found armor and weapons.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Staff of the Newb

Damage: 1-3 based damage

Show those rodents who carries the big stick.

Newblet Hood

Provides 2 Armor

Newblet Tunic

Provides 5 Armor

Newblet Pants

Provides 5 Armor

Newblet Shoes

Provides 3 Armor

Newblet Gloves

Provides 2 Armor

I equipped everything and got a prompt regarding whole set bonuses. I will receive ten percent increased XP and +1 to all stats until I am level 10. I thanked her for her service and asked her if there was anything I could do to help her out. Without hesitation, she nodded and proceeded to tell me about a farmer 15 minutes down the right fork. The farm was on the brink of failure and the farmer was getting desperate. He used the last of his coin to summon a greater demon. She made a deal with the farmer to make the farm profitable again. After that, the farmer would have to give the demon his first-born daughter. She is due to collect the daughter tomorrow.

Quest: Be Careful What You Wish For

Tasks: Save Ellie from the Succubus

Rewards: 1200 XP, 50 Copper, and other rewards depending on how quest is completed.

Accept?

I accepted the quest and thanked Elsa. Before I grabbed my gear, I asked her if she had any advice regarding this situation. She replied, “The only thing I know regarding demons is that they cannot resist a heroic challenge. I thanked her again and headed for the exit. I heard Elsa wish me luck before I left the Inn. I waved to Dale as he walked by with a fishing pole again. “It is a good night for fishing.”, he greeted me. I nodded and continued down the path for 15 minutes until I came across a farm in question. I approached the main house and knocked on the door. A woman answered the door with a puzzled look on her face. She looked exhausted and frustrated. “Elsa sent me to help “ Relief washed her face as she opened the door further and motioned me inside. I stepped inside to see what I assumed was her husband ready to stick me with a pitchfork. I placed my hands up to signify surrender and reminded them that I was here to help.

The farmer lowered his weapon and apologized. He placed the tool against the wall and motioned me into the kitchen. They retold the story to me about how desperate things had been around here. The eight years of drought had destroyed the land making it barren. They needed divine help and a woman knocked on their door. She offered them three hundred years of plenty for the soul of the firstborn daughter. “Why didn’t they want the first born son?”, I interrupted. “She wants to make another succubus, not an incubus.”, the farmer explained. “My daughter is so brave, she accepted without a second thought.”, the farm then proceeded to cry as his wife stood up and consoled him as best she could. It was a little awkward seeing this exchange and looked around to avoid watching this exchange. I saw an unrolled scroll on a shelf and reached over to grab it.

I, Allie, do hereby give my pure soul to the great succubus Manwin for three hundred years of plenty to my father and his progeny. The soul may only be collected after the first year of plenty. May the gods Potus and Darpa witness and not interfere.

Ugh, those stupid gods. I have you warn you, fair reader, you will hear more about them later. Especially Dod the Defender, Dod the greatest dick of the new world. If any of you rely on that five-sided shield of his to protect you, you better just kiss your ass goodbye. Sorry, I am venting.

The farmer’s wife saw me read the contract and waited for me to finish. Once I placed the parchment down, she asked me, “Is there anything you can do for us?”. I smiled in sympathy to the couple, “I have a couple of ideas that may help out. I would need to research this further. Can I talk to the demon who made the deal?” The tension in the room increased as the farmer pointed to the door. “There is a summoning circle in the barn. Place a drop of blood in the center and the demon will show up in 50 seconds.” I thanked them and made my way outside and into the barn.

Before I entered the barn, the feeling of impending doom started to develop in my gut. I took several deep breaths to try and calm myself. Even without my memories, I was sure that summoning a demon wasn’t an everyday thing in my old life. This was scary and my body was reminding my head how dangerous this actually was. The nauseous feeling plateaued and I rushed to the left of the door to dry heave into a pile of straw. The little I had in my stomach came up in defiance to what I was attempting to do. After I was fully purged, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and reached with my other shaky hand to open the door to the barn. It was dark and empty inside. The scent of sulfur filled the room making it difficult to breathe. The light from the setting sun was quickly fading as I placed the contract on the ground and found a nearby pitchfork. I stabbed my finger with a yelp. I asked myself if tetanus was real in this game as I placed a drop in the center of the already existing summoning circle. I backed away and counted to fifty. When I reached forty-five. The door behind me slammed shut, the air turned stale, and the oil lanterns in the barn lit. Inside the circle was a stunning woman with blonde hair and a white dress. Her features screamed angelic to my brain but the literal fire behind her eyes had the promise of torment and agony. My pants grew tight as my arousal increased. Despite myself, all my thoughts were focused on this beautiful creature in front of me.

“You smell delectable.”, The woman hissed. The voice jolted me down to my soul. Just listening to it made my ears feel dirty and clogged with motor oil. It gave me the resolve to tear my eyes away from the endlessly deep cleavage of this vision and stare into the eyes of fiery hate. I attempted to speak but only a fearful squeak escaped my lips. I cleared my throat and attempted to speak again. She held up her hand to stop me. “I know your request and refuse it. The contract is made and completed. There is nothing you can do to break the contract” My mind went into overdrive processing all the different things I could do and the possible outcomes. After the 70th scenario, a smirk crossed my face. “Nothing I can say?”, I asked with mirth in my voice, “Care to make a wager?”. The beautiful smile started to melt from her face as the angel before me slowly became a demon from my nightmares. “You dare question me?”, she hissed. Her face grew scales and her tough forked like a snake. Another shiver went down my spine as I witnessed this transformation. The tightness of my pants was quickly replaced with the desire to lose my bladder control and run. Black leather wings emerged from her back and a scorpion stinger begins to hover over her head. The demon stared at me in disgust impatient for my response. A health bar appeared above her along with the text, “Level ??? Succubus Queen” and a red aura surrounded her form. A white disc appeared in front of her as the scorpion tail attempted to strike me. The tail retracted and the disc dissolved only to reappear and block three more strikes. A thickened black mucus ran down the invisible wall that surrounded the summoning circle.

“Fine!”, she huffed in frustration. “If you win, I will allow you to summon me for assistance, once a day. If I win…”, the voice changed back from hissing to seductive, “I will get to snack on your soul for eternity.” The red aura dissipated with the health bar and text as the demon became the angelic hourglass figured beauty.

Notice: You are attempting to make a wager with a demon. This wager is considered binding and can only be broken by the Gods. Do you accept?

“Deal!”, I replied as I gathered my nerves. I was getting aroused again and started to lose focus outside of all thoughts to this reverie of everything that I was attracted to physically. “Who are the parties involved in the contract?”. The angel/demon looked confused and replied, “Allie and I.” I smiled and asked, “Who is Allie? I don’t know an Allie. I do know an Ellie though.” The look of confusion turned into revulsion as the realization hit the succubus. She screamed in frustration and the barn shook. The contract that was left on the ground burst into flames and turned into a pile of ash. The barn quickly became dilapidated and bleak as the succubus’ blessing became void. She snarled at me, “Grab the necklace in the ash pile. Think of me when you need my help and I will arrive.”. I found a gold chain in the ash pile and looked at its stats:

Blessed Chain of the Queen’s Lust

Provides 10% Armor increase

Provides 10% Mana Increase

Restores 1% Health in Combat

On Use: Summon a Succubus to assist you for (Character Level)minutes. Type of Succubus summoned is varied depending on level. Limit one use per day. Unbreakable. Soulbound.

I love the smell of Succubus in the Morning. Smells like victory!

My mouth dropped open in shock as equipped it right away. A ruby tear formed in the middle of the chain and glowed a weak red light briefly. Feeling smug in my new found confidence I looked back at the queen, “Care to make another wager? I still need your blessing on this farm.” She tapped her chin with her finger as she thought for a minute or three. Her eyes shifted back to me and she arched her eyebrows. “How about a heroic challenge? If you pass it, I will keep my blessing on the land. If you fail, I will collect your soul in 3 years from today.”

Feeling pretty good about my odds I placed my hand into the circle, “Deal!” Pain erupted from my palm and I looked down. The scorpion stinger was in my palm and the flesh surrounding the impact point was becoming gray and mottled with yellowish spots. My vision darkened as I saw a hallucination debuff appear in the corner of my peripheral vision. When I awoke I saw that I was sitting in an office stuck in a cubical proofreading an article about autumn superfoods. Ugh, I recoiled from the monitor. I hate sweet potatoes.